Letters to editor: June 7

A great deal has been expressed recently about cutting taxes to provide more jobs. This is only possible if we were just to consider the private sector. Clearly the refusal to raise taxes is costing jobs in the public sector as the cutbacks from sequestration show.

Teachers, service personnel, police and fire department employees, sanitation workers and those who maintain our infrastructure are equally as important as those who work for private companies.

What we are losing is a sense of the common good. We need cooperation and mutual supportiveness and we need it now.

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I am president of ERMC2, an engineering firm headquartered in Lexington. I am writing in response to a recent letter that attacked Congressman Andy Barr, suggesting he was "missing in action" in fighting to protect Kentucky coal jobs.

Barr's steadfast support was witnessed firsthand by one of our staff engineers during a recent visit to Washington organized by the Kentucky Coal Association.

The first meeting was with the Environmental Protection Agency at its headquarters. While Barr was 15 minutes late due to another commitment, his arrival to the meeting changed the tone and posture of the EPA staff in attendance. Barr's knowledge of the challenges facing Kentucky's coal production added greatly to the discussion. We are hopeful that this dialogue may lead to some much-needed solutions.

Later that same day, Barr organized and led presentations by his colleagues on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

My firm currently employs 17 people in its Lexington office: employees raising families and paying taxes in Barr's district. If the current administration continues unchecked in its current direction, it may not be possible to maintain our staff. In his first six months in office, I believe Barr is doing all he can to stand up for Kentucky jobs.

If you have ideas on how to keep our coal miners working, please let him know. It is my experience that you will find a willing listener and a helpful friend in Barr.

Mike Ricci

Lexington

Let them vote, too?

State Rep. Tom Burch wants to restore voting rights to released felons. Gee, isn't it enough that crooks and scoundrels get to run for office?

Ernie Henninger

Harrodsburg

Basic math

You have got to love Congress.

It's members should be on Saturday Night Live. They wrote a bunch of tax laws that they and almost anybody, except Apple and General Electric, understand.

Then Apple plays by the rules and liberals in Congress get all upset. It's like the state police setting a 40 mph speed limit and then wanting to fine you for going 39 mph. If Congress would lower the tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, they might get something. Remember 35 percent of zero is zero, but 25 percent of something is something.

Steve Stinson

Lexington

Please explain

Can anyone explain to me why we get upset when the Internal Revenue Service appears to take political sides but we do not get upset when the Supreme Court, the supreme law of the land, can do the same thing?

Leon Creek

Lexington

Forgotten anniversary

A voice cries out in the wilderness, hoping to be heard and remembered: a voice of one survivor who had the courage to speak out regarding the attack on the USS Liberty.

Truth is, the Israelis' vicious attack on the Navy research ship lasted as long as the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many people do remember that terrible day, June 8, 1967.

The air and sea attack killed 34 crew members and wounded 171. Israel said it mistook the vessel as Egyptian.

Help was sent to save the USS Liberty but President Lyndon Johnson, believing the ship and all its mates would be destroyed, ordered the jet fighters to return. If she had sunk, Egypt would have been blamed and we would have been at war with them, benefiting Israel.

It is sad that nearly every U.S. war since WWII has some connection to Israel. The leaders of Israel will probably never mature. They truly are the lost sheep.